Horror Movie: The Fourth Kind (PG-13; 2009; 98 min.)

Okay, so I’m a sucker for “reality-based” alien-abduction movies if the aliens are not here for peaceful purposes (E.T. was great, but not for a good scare). That’s why I chose this movie starring Milla Jovovich as Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychologist in Nome, Alaska, a town where hundreds of people have (supposedly) mysteriously disappeared since the 1960’s. Formatted as a re-creation of events entertwined with actual interview footage of Dr. Tyler herself and Dr. Tyler with several of her patients, The Fourth Kind tries to appear to blend fact with the unknown. And it kind of succeeds.

The supposedly “real” Dr. Tyler is a pale, sickly looking woman telling us of the events which led up to her daughter’s abduction by aliens (the Fourth Kind is actually the name of this type of interaction with aliens…an abduction). It all began some time after her husband’s death, when several of her patients talked of seeing an owl at night. That’s, unfortunately, all they can remember. Upon hypnosis (Milla Jovovich’s soft, fluid voice here almost had me under too!), the patients reveal that the owl, which is not at that point an owl, comes into the room and then “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…” That’s all we discover, as they are too terrified to go on with their story.

Soon, these patients are killing off family members and Dr. Tyler falls under suspicion for her “hypnotic spells.” We discover this entity which the patients are experiencing speaks to them in an ancient Sumarian language, and seems to take over their bodies as well. A couple of these scenes are especially cool to watch.

Finally, one night the aliens descend upon Dr. Tyler’s house, abducting her young daughter. Trying to find her, Dr. Tyler herself is hypnotized by a colleague, and it does not go well. This is where I must end my review to prevent spoiling the ending (of the movie) for you. Suffice it to say, this is a good suspense/thriller type of movie with a scare or two thrown in as well.